Chapter 717: Chapter 716: Bianfeng Kai Goes Online
The Manchester City players began to celebrate excitedly.
Three-nil before half-time.
Remember, their opponents are Manchester United!
That’s the king of the Premier League!
Similarly, Manchester United hasn’t suffered such a heavy defeat in the last three or four seasons.
This season’s third-place finish is not only their worst in many consecutive seasons.
If they don’t get their hands on the FA Cup, this will also be the first time in years that Manchester United ends a season without a single Championship Trophy!
This is almost Manchester United’s darkest season!
Ronaldo: So, I arrive and it’s suddenly dark? Are you dissing me?
However... this would certainly make some players feel awkward.
Right, we’re talking about Saha.
Saha: ...
In the 41st minute.
Manchester United tried to stage a comeback with a goal in the last stage of the first half.
Just one goal, and they would still have hope.
The concept of three-nil at half-time and two-nil at half-time is entirely different.
Bang!
Giggs sent a cross from the left.
Van Nistelrooy executed a difficult volley, but the football went over the crossbar.
Kompany exerted a strong defensive pressure on Van Nistelrooy.
In the 44th minute.
Van Nistelrooy retreated and made a diagonal pass.
But Čech’s charge was too fast.
Ronaldo could only attempt a flick on goal, but it went straight into Čech.
The ball rebounded, and Ronaldo immediately took a follow-up shot.
Čech, sitting down, also dived to the side almost at the same time and saved again.
A double wonder-save!
Čech yyds!
"Oh! What a pity! Such a pity!"
"Ronaldo’s double shot didn’t score."
"Čech is simply a defensive deity today!"
"It’s as if he has installed numerous invisible panes of glass in front of Manchester City’s goal. Although we can’t see them, they block all of Manchester United’s shots time after time."
"Deserving of this year’s Premier League’s Best Goalkeeper."
"From the worst goalkeeper in the Premier League to the best, Čech did it in one season! We are very curious about what caused such a miraculous change."
"The camera turns to Schmeichel, he is Čech’s goalkeeper coach. The last Championship Trophy of this Manchester United legend’s career came from representing Manchester City and defeating Manchester United."
"Will his disciple be able to do the same? Let’s wait and see."
The match then entered the half-time break.
Both sides made tactical adjustments, but no personnel changes.
After all, it’s the last one or two games of the season, and the strongest players are surely already on the pitch.
After the second half started,
Manchester City’s tactical thinking also became clear.
Mainly play ball control.
And delay time.
The reason is naturally because Manchester City has a European League final to play in four days.
They need to avoid exhaustion, especially injuries.
In their last confrontation, an irate Keane did break David Silva’s leg.
Although Manchester United was eager to get the ball, Manchester City’s control had already become solid.
This season, their overall ball possession rate ranked in the top five in all of Europe.
And in the second half of the season, their ball possession rate soared to number one in Europe!
For a full thirty minutes,
Manchester United accomplished nothing.
The match lulled onlookers into drowsiness.
Until the 76th minute,
Manchester City unilaterally declared it garbage time.
Guardiola waved his hand grandly, making a triple substitution.
The young Croatian talent Mandzukic came on for Adriano.
China’s Sun Jihai replaced Maicon.
And the veteran Desailly came on for Yaya Toure.
Upon entering the game, Desailly took up the position of centre-back.
And the centre-back Thiago Silva moved up to midfield, forming a double pivot with Mascherano.
Thiago Silva was a versatile defender.
Neither he nor Mascherano could be considered top-class Premier League defensive midfielders.
But the defensive effect of their pairing was definitely not inferior to any first-class defensive midfielder.
They both had very high football IQs.
And could be considered strong in both offense and defense.
Meanwhile, Fabregas’s position moved toward the center, arriving at the attacking midfielder position.
Torres shifted from the position of left center-forward to the right wing, playing as a right winger.
And Deng Kai moved from the midfield to the team’s left side, playing as a left winger.
Manchester City changed their formation.
4213!
It wasn’t that Manchester City didn’t have this formation.
When they were under strong pressure in the past, Yaya Toure would drop back, creating a 4213.
But the issue was... the soul of this lineup, the singular "1," was always Deng Kai.
And this time, it had become the young Fabregas.
The brain of the team!
Could he really do it?
Wasn’t Manchester City taking too great a risk?
Moreover, could Deng Kai really dominate as a left winger the way he did in midfield?
You might indeed be the world’s number one football star.
But that doesn’t mean you’re the world’s best at any position, okay?
Respect science.
If you make Zidane play as a forward, Ronaldo play in midfield, and Figo and Rivaldo play as centre-backs, they would probably just be so-so.
What makes you think you’re so special, Deng Kai?
Huang Jianxiang: "Deng Kai is very rarely seen in the winger position."
"We can hardly find any record of him playing in this position from official sources."
"But as an absolute fan of Kai’s, I have exclusive information."
"Deng Kai once played as a winger during his youth training days at Sporting Lisbon, and his performance was not inferior to the team’s twin star, Cristiano Ronaldo, at that time!"
Cristiano Ronaldo: ???
The eighty-first minute.
Saha, who’d been playing disastrously all game, finally had a moment of brilliance.
On the wing, Ashley Young made a cross before Thiago Silva got to him.
Van Nistelrooy headed the ball to assist.
Cristiano Ronaldo turned and shot in the box to score.
However, the linesman flagged immediately.
Cristiano Ronaldo was offside!
Cristiano Ronaldo looked somewhat helplessly at Van Nistelrooy.
If Van Nistelrooy hadn’t touched the ball with his head at that moment, Cristiano Ronaldo could have directly gone for the goal.
But Van Nistelrooy just had to get a touch.
It was really unnecessary.
The eighty-third minute.
Saha, seemingly emboldened by the confidence, directly cut inside to challenge Thiago Silva.
The sister-in-law decisively tackled and then passed the ball to Deng Kai, who had dropped back to help.
Saha turned and lunged at Deng Kai.
Deng Kai executed a V-drag to easily shake off Saha, not waiting for Saha to turn again, he immediately dribbled past him.
Swaying you once and still overtaking you!
Bang!
Deng Kai accelerated with the ball on the flank, taking off at top speed.
After a brief moment of shock, the corners of Saha’s mouth curled up as he powered forward in pursuit.
A race for speed?
That’s more like it!
Although King of the Ball Saha’s speed wasn’t as fast as Cristiano Ronaldo’s, it was still top-tier in the Premier League.
How could a mere midfielder possibly outrun him...
Bang!
Deng Kai’s successive touches increased his speed.
Saha followed closely behind, but the distance between them didn’t shrink in the slightest.
This directly caused Gary Neville, Manchester United’s right-back on that side, to misjudge the situation.
He thought Saha could put defensive pressure on Deng Kai, entangling him.
So Gary moved ahead of time to cover the inside, preventing Deng Kai from passing to Fabregas, who was making a forward run into the gap.
However...
